Is it me or is it my camera?

[DawninCal]

I have a Nikon Coolpix L14 and often find that I can't get as close up as I would like in macro mode.

I'll have to back up 8-10 inches from the product before I get the green light that the item is in focus. Other times, I can get within 4-5 inches and the green light comes on.

When I can't get close up, I find that I also can't photograph as much detail as I would like and the item looks far away in my thumbnails.

What causes this? Is it lighting, time of day, the item reflecting just so, me or my camera?

I haven't found anything in the manual to explain it, but the manual is pretty much worthless.

Thanks!



Dawn

[koolbraider]

Dawn, I'd say it may be the light, although 8-10 inches is pretty close. When you try again notice what f-stop you are shooting in macro mode. Even in macro you can change stops. Try to go as low as possible, which on my camera is f2.8. And I assume you're using a tripod (which will be today's post.)

Other thought: can you check your "metering" mode? Even if you are shooting in manual, but not in "spot" metering mode, that may be your problem. Go through the menu directly on your Nikon and it should be there. Spot metering locks the center focus on the area you really want. The focus area shows up as a square on my LCD monitor on the back of the camera. In "spot focus", where ever you point it, that square uses only that area to decide lighting. If you are using any other metering mode, you may be pointing at one specific area but the camera still uses all of the image to decide where the best focus point is. And it may not be the point you want.

If you crop an image and want to enlarge what's left to show here (and don't have enough pixels in the pic) then the pic gets fuzzy. Which means you may also want to shoot in a larger pic size and be able to crop it down without getting a fuzzy result (not too sure about this one so I'll have to experiment). And maybe superfine or fine. I use fine, not normal.

Reflections are a bug, which is why a light box is usually a good idea, it diffuses light.

Lastly, I'm one of those annoying people who never never throw anything away. It may take a while to find things but I know they're there. Somewhere.

[lotty64]

Great question Dawn as I have the same camera and the same problem